With the Knicks season now over (Fuck Boston), I quickly moved my focus onto the June draft and what the Knicks opening day roster might look like before remembering that in all likelihood there will be an NBA lockout this off-season. Now, because I can't imagine a world without NBA quality basketball I have come up with what I think is a brilliant idea...The NBA Alumni Tournament (although we'll probably have to remove the NBA from the name since their lockout is precisely why this tournament can exist).
The format is simple: An 8-team basketball tournament with six squads made up of current NBA players that all attended the same colleges of Duke, UNC, UCLA, Arizona, UCONN and Kentucky, plus one team of European players and one team of High Schoolers who went straight to the NBA (or as I'm calling them "Kobe Bryant and the Couldn't Pass their SAT's All-Stars). The opening round of the tournament is a three-game series, the 2nd Round is a best of five and the Championship Series is a grueling best of seven.
Sure, there are going to be some big name stars who don't get to play like Kevin Durant, Deron Williams, Carmelo, etc., but come on guys...who in their right mind chooses to go to places like Syracuse and Champaign, Illinois when they could've been at UCLA or Arizona. Plus, can't you just see guys whose schools got snubbed trying to challenge the winning team post tournament, like Chris Paul single handedly trying to beat the champs like he's doing now against the Lakers, but with a bunch of no-name Wake Forest alum and a one hundred year old Tim Duncan.
The best part about this tournament is that it could legitimately happen. If the NBA, like the NFL, has a break in their collective bargaining agreement the players will be free to do whatever they want. So let's say we play the tournament in Vegas and the arena sells out for every game (which it would), that's a hefty chunk of change we can use to pay the players. Are you telling me guys like Baron Davis and Gilbert Arenas aren't going to sign up for a month long basketball tournament in Vegas for not only money, but bragging rights as well?
Check out these rosters and if you are a billionaire who wants to fund this get in touch...or just steal the idea and do it yourself. Honestly, I don't care just as long as there isn't a longer than normal break in my NBA quality basketball watching.
UCLA
Russell Westbrook, Arron Afflalo, Trevor Ariza, Matt Barnes, Darren Collison, Baron Davis, Jordan Farmar, Dan Gadzuric, Jrue Holiday, Ryan Hollins, Jason Kapono, Kevin Love, Luc Mbah a Moute and Earl Watson.
DUKE
Shane Battier, Elton Brand, Chris Duhon, Grant Hill, Corey Maggette, J.J. Redick, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, Mike Dunleavy, Dahntay Jones, Shelden Williams, Josh McRoberts.
ARIZONA
Gilbert Arenas, Mike Bibby, Chase Budginer, Wil Bynum, Jerryd Bayless, Channing Frye, Andre Igoudala, Richard Jefferson, Jason Terry, Luke Walton...plus Damon Stoudemire only recently retired and that Derrick Williams kid who is entering the draft.
UCONN
Ray Allen, Hilton Armstrong, Josh Boone, Caron Butler, Rudy Gay, Ben Gordon, Rip Hamilton, Emeka Okafor, Kevin Ollie, AJ Price, Charlie Villanueva, Marcus Williams.
UNC
Vince Carter, Raymond Felton, Brendan Haywood, Antawn Jamison, Marvin Williams, Sean May, Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, Ed Davis...plus Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace only recently retired.
KENTUCKY
Kelenna Azabuike, Keith Bogans, Chuck Hayes, Jamal Magloire, Nazr Mohammaed, Tayshun Prince, Rajon Rondo, John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Jodie Meeks, Daniel Orton.
EUROS
Peja Stojakovic, Dik Nowitzki, Andrei Kirilinko, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Hedo Turkoglu, Danilo Gallinari, Andrea Bargnani, Rudy Fernandez, Sasha Vujacic, Marcin Gortart...plus many others and Manu Ginobili who is from Argentina which is basically Europe and played in Italy. And since they don't have a PG to back up Parker I think we can throw them Brandon Jennings since he was over there a year.
HIGH SCHOOLERS aka Kobe Bryant and the Couldn't Pass their SATs All-Stars
Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, Al Harrington, Rashard Lewis, Tyson Chandler, Dwight Howard, A'mare Stoudemire, Lebron James, Kendrick Perkins, Josh Smith, JR Smith, Monta Ellis.
